Top Photo: Oak, female red wolf. Our new wolf Adeyha has been getting much of the attention lately, but at present, our female, born April28, 2014 is the one you most often see when you visit the Red Wolf Enclosure. Here she is in a series of photos taken a few days ago. On occasion, Adeyha, her potential mate, has been curled up out of view inside the den, directly in front of the overlook. I was able to getRead more
Posts tagged: #SSP
Adeyha
Top Photo: Adeyha’s shaky first steps into our Red Wolf Enclosure. Born in May of 2014 our new red wolf is a nine year old male. He arrived onsite from Naibi Zoo in Coal Valley, IL. to his new home here at the museum Tuesday night October 24 and was placed in the kennel area of our Red Wolf Enclosure. The gate to the kennel was opened Thursday morning and out he came. He spent most of the morning cautiouslyRead more
Frenzy*
To Photo: Oak and Niko. There are four stages to the canine estrus cycle (reproductive cycle)—proestrus, estrus, diestrus, and anestrus. Proestrus is the stage where the female’s estrogen level peaks. Proestrus lasts for, on average, 9 days. Males are attracted to her but she is not receptive to them. Estrus, which also averages 9 days, is the fertile period. Estrogen levels drop and proestrogen levels rise. More importantly, the female is receptive to males. Diestrus lasts for about 2-3 months or until theRead more
Oak and Niko
Top Photo: Oak (left) and Niko carefully watch members of the Animal Care crew in their enclosure during routine maintenance. Now that word is out about the new pair of red wolves having arrived at the museum, Niko and Oak, you may want to come have a look at them. Both wolves are still getting used to their enclosure and the rush of people stopping in or passing by the exhibit space. They’ve only been on-site a handful of daysRead more
Eno, Ellerbe and the Bones
Top Photo: Ellerbe left and Eno. The animal keepers occasionally place deer legs into the Red Wolf Enclosure. The wolves appreciate the additional offerings of nutrition and behavioral enrichment, though it’s not always clear what is appreciated more. To further harmony, Eno finds his own leg bone to gnaw on. Entente.Read more
Interesting Sightings Around the Loop
Top Photo: Dogbane beetle. While out on the trail I’m often asked, “see anything interesting today?” or “see anything cool?” The short answer is always “yes.” The truth is, every time I go outside I see something interesting, and it’s all cool. In order to see things, though, you have to be where things are, and you have to look. Part of it is knowing what to look for but it’s mostly just being aware of your surroundings. Like clockwork,Read more
A Trip Outdoors
Top Photo: Rudbeckia as part of the new “Prairie” in Catch the Wind. Life goes on along the outdoor loop through Catch the Wind, Explore the Wild, and the Dinosaur Trail. Here’s some of what’s happening out there. The tiny fruit of autumn olive is ripening. Though a non-native plant, the fruit is edible and has a sweet-tart taste. You should hold off on picking and eating until it ripens. When the fruit turns red with whitish speckles, that’s theRead more
Sharing
Our two sibling red wolves, Eno and Ellerbe, share the same enclosure. As you might expect, each wolf has its own personality. Eno often seems to desire, what appears to be, playful interaction between himself and his brother. From my observations, Ellerbe prefers to be left alone and does not share his brother’s enthusiasm for “playfulness.” It’s part of the captive animal experience to be offered enrichment. Environmental Enrichment, in the case here, is the placement of objects inside theRead more
The Howling
Top: Father and three of his sons from this year’s liter enjoy a group howl. Our ten red wolves howl regularly. We don’t howl at them, but their howling has become a nearly daily routine. The museum happens to be located within a quarter mile of a hospital. We hear a lot of sirens. Most are off in the distance, but our wolves hear them just the same, and they react to the sirens by howling. It’s quite an experienceRead more